Tech PR Agency The Colab Adds Ten to Leadership After 322% Revenue Growth

The Colab, a Denver-based public relations agency serving AI companies and high-growth tech startups, has hired eight senior communications professionals and promoted two existing team members. The expansion follows a year in which the firm grew monthly recurring revenue 322%, scaling into what it describes as a multimillion-dollar agency with staff across the U.S. and South America.

The timing is notable. More than a dozen of The Colab's clients have been acquired or gone public while working with the firm, a track record that suggests the agency has found a niche serving companies navigating high-stakes transitions. CEO and co-founder Lizzy Harris framed the hiring wave as a direct reinvestment of that success. "Tech companies don't need another agency that sends press releases and hopes for the best," she said. "They need a partner who understands their technology, knows the reporters covering it, and can turn complicated products into stories people remember."

That pitch matters in a crowded PR market. Plenty of agencies claim technical fluency. Fewer can point to specific proof points. The Colab's new hires bring backgrounds in media relations, AI storytelling, executive visibility, crisis communications, B2B trade media, and public affairs, expanding the firm's reach into cybersecurity, enterprise SaaS, fintech, climate tech, defense tech, govtech, and healthtech, serving clients from Series A through IPO.

The Technology Layer

What separates The Colab's pitch from a standard agency press release is Prism, its in-house platform for AI visibility, measurement, reporter research, opportunity tracking, forecasting, and real-time client KPI dashboards. Launched in 2026, Prism combines media relations with generative engine optimization, the practice of shaping how brands appear in AI-powered search and chatbot responses.

The firm cites one concrete result: Prism's LLM visibility tracking helped a healthtech client reach the number one AI visibility ranking in its industry in under a year, generating 220 mentions and a 51% share of voice. That is a specific, measurable claim, and it matters because generative engine optimization remains a largely unproven discipline. Most agencies talk about AI visibility in vague terms. Fewer have built dedicated tooling to measure it and fewer still can point to a named outcome.

The Colab also reaches scale through The Colab Brief, its PR newsletter, which the firm says reaches more than 20,000 communications professionals across 150-plus editions. That distribution gives the agency a platform for thought leadership beyond client work, reinforcing its positioning as a specialist rather than a generalist shop.

On the personnel side, the promotions recognize internal talent. Andrea Dumont dos Santos moves up to PR Director, leading integrated campaigns for technology clients after building international experience across tech and lifestyle accounts at global agencies. Erika Cardina becomes PR Manager, having transitioned from an entertainment background into AI and emerging tech strategy work.

The new hires carry heavier resumes. Jenny Wang joins as Senior Vice President, bringing recognition from PRWeek, PRNEWS, Ragan, the Diversity Action Alliance, and Washington Women in PR, along with policy and crisis communications experience based in Washington, D.C. Kate Dmytrenko arrives as Associate Vice President with 14 years in integrated communications spanning AI, climate tech, and venture capital, including a stint leading North America communications for carbon removal company Climeworks during its U.S. market entry, where she served as spokesperson around partnerships with Morgan Stanley and TikTok.

Natalie Rizk joins as Senior PR Director with more than 13 years across fintech, energy, space tech, and cybersecurity, including prior roles at clean energy company Arcadia and at HERO, which Klarna later acquired. Kristen Carmen also joins as Senior PR Director, bringing more than 12 years of B2B communications work and deep experience in media training and multi-stakeholder engagement from her time at CashmanCo and G&S Business Communications.

Elizabeth Kyle, a former reporter at the Dayton Business Journal, joins as Senior PR Manager after five years at agency LaunchSquad, where she ran media programs for clients including Uber Freight and DJI. April Hiester joins as PR Manager with seven years of B2B tech communications experience and a trade media network built around product launches. Rounding out the hires, Karrigen Hanson and Cabri Gordon both join as Senior Account Executives, the latter a former TV news producer who most recently secured tier-one coverage for AI and cybersecurity clients at agency VSC.

The Bottom Line

The Colab's growth numbers are self-reported and come from a sponsored press release, so they warrant the same scrutiny any private company's internal metrics deserve. There is no independent verification of the 322% revenue figure, the client acquisition tally, or the Prism visibility results. That said, the hiring pattern itself is a useful signal. Companies experiencing genuine revenue stress rarely add ten senior and mid-level staff in a single push.

For buyers evaluating PR agencies in the AI sector, the relevant question is less about The Colab's growth story and more about whether proprietary measurement tools like Prism actually produce defensible outcomes. Generative engine optimization is an emerging category with few established benchmarks. A single healthtech client reaching 51% share of voice in AI visibility rankings is a promising data point, not a proven methodology. Prospective clients should ask for sector-specific case studies and request transparency on how Prism's metrics are calculated before treating AI visibility claims as a differentiator worth paying a premium for.

The broader trend, specialist agencies investing in AI-adjacent measurement infrastructure while expanding sector coverage, reflects where tech PR is heading. Whether The Colab's particular bet on Prism and rapid staffing holds up will depend on client retention and repeatable results over the next several quarters, not a single year of reported growth.